Flickr for iOS adds filters in bid to rival Instagram

Yahoo is adding filter enhancements to its photo sharing application for Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS, positioning the service as a rival to Facebook's (NASDAQ:FB) popular Instagram.

Flickr for iOS version 2.20.1134 adds live filters enabling users to scroll through and preview the effects of each filter before they snap an image. Consumers may also customize filters to achieve the precise effect they're looking for. The update additionally touts camera tools like grids, pinch-to-zoom and focus locks, alongside editing tools for enhancing, cropping, sharpening and color-adjusting photos.

Yahoo acquired Flickr in 2005 for a reported $35 million, but the service has since fallen far behind newer, mobile-first rivals like Instagram, which boasts 130 million monthly users who have shared 16 billion photos.

Yahoo purchased GhostBird Software, the startup behind iOS photo applications KitCam and PhotoForge, two months ago. The PhotoForge painting and editing app supported image manipulation, retouching, effects and color correction, and the complementary KitCam offered an assortment of lenses, films and frames enabling users to apply live effects to photos and videos. Yahoo removed both PhotoForge and KitCam from Apple's App Store after announcing the deal, stating that Flickr would integrate many of their respective features and capabilities.

Yahoo also acquired social networking platform Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash in May as part of its effort to establish a greater foothold in social networking, a segment where the company has struggled to gain relevance. The Tumblr network spans more than 96 million blogs in all and generates more than 16 billion page views per month, buoyed by apps for iOS, Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android and Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone 8 that support on-the-go sharing of photos, GIFs, video clips, quotes and messages.

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